Huang Rui

Geisha 03

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Geisha 05

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Geisha 02

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Senbon Torii 05

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Senbon Torii 10

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Senbon Torii 09

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Branches 06
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Branches 05
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Branches 04
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Silver Beach 05

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Silver Beach 03

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Silver Beach 02

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   Rong Rong 01

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  Rong Rong 06

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  Rong Rong 02

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Ripple 04

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Ripple 06

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Ripple 03

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Stairs 04

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Stairs 02

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Stairs 03

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The Square 40

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The Square 36

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The Square 28

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The Ruins 38

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The Ruins 09

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PHOTO SYMBIOSIS

How to approach photography when you  are  a  symbolic artist,  who  deals  in  creative  gestures and performance signs rather than  demonstration？

Before the digital era, distance had the consequence of not just not knowing more but also not seeing more. Huang Rui needed the eyes  of  RongRong,  his  brother  in  images,  to understand what was lacking, and what the other was waiting for beyond  the  seas,  in  the  intimacy  of emotions.

Huang Rui and  RongRong established a  ritual that film photography made possible. In  that  time, not long ago, you had to wait it out for the mystery of development, printing and delivery. One produced photos for the other, who knew what he  had  asked for  but  did  not  know the  form  of what he was going to   receive.

Plasticist, it is as a non-figurative raw material that Huang Rui considers photographs, those of RongRong or later those of his own.  Their  accumulation,  transformation,  installation, suggest more than they  show.

The subjects represented are, in  the wrenching and tearing-up, a  blow to    modesty.

If there was ever a country that really signified change to the planet in the year 2000, it was China. One understands the frustration one could have by being far away from this.

The artists were awake. Everything was used as material. Contemporary art and photography was going through an incredible effervescence. Short of reference points, the sense of creative freedom was strong and  fruitful.

A long- distant harvest, the sharing of pictures of nature, symbols of power, love, destruction, temples, a furtive figure of a woman on the walls suggested in the fragments of images, another encountered in the stairwell? Are these signs of a world in radical transition, confronted by the search for absolute  purity?

It is then that a new branch emerges,  autonomous,  in  command,  RongRong's  own  work, less brutal or luminous and less sombre, seems to propose a utopia in the midst of chaos.

It is in this claimed complementarity that one should understand this exhibition. Distinguishing the output for Huang Rui, being secretive, straight, voluntary, above all modest, of RongRong in all his languor, without protection, willingly giving up  is  body and   soul.

Because if for Rui the photo is matter and symbol, for Rong it is light and narrative. If for Rong it is utopia, for Rui it is sombre realisation.  As  twins  they  have  their  own  personalities  which makes it possible to distinguish between them and to offer two readings of the same world.

François Hébel

September 2017

Huang Rui


Contemporary artist and curator born in Beijing in 1952.
Participant in and curator of the famous Stars Exhibition in 1979. Founded the 798 Art District in 2002.
Painter, sculptor, installation artist and performance artist.
Works and activities have stirred up controversy due to their challenging and forward-looking nature.

SOLO EXHIBITION:
2016
Huang Rui: 1976, Zürcher Gallery, Paris, France
In Search Of Trigrams, Performance Art, Zürcher Gallery, Paris, France
Huang Rui Space – Japan Period, Boers-Li Gallery, Beijing, China
2015
Language Color, Zürcher Gallery, New York, USA
2014
Black and White Cats 49, Then?, Performance Art, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
Erotic×Huang Rui: Works on Paper 1981-2014, Hadrien de Montferrand Gallery, Beijing, China
Space Structure 1983-1986, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong 
Black and White, MD Gallery, Shanghai, China
2013
The Wasteland Series, Boers-Li Gallery, Beijing China
2012
Woman, Outdoor Sculpture Show, German Embassy, Beijing, China
Ping-Pong, Shanghai Tang, Hong Kong
Language-Color, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
I-Ching, Opposite House, Beijing, China
2011
Huang Rui Exhibition, Space Hongjee, Seoul, South Korea 
I JOY YOU JOY, 604 Gallery, Busan, South Korea
CZECHINA, Embassy Art Gallery, Embassy of the Czech Republic, Beijing, China
2009
Animal Time: 1204-2009, Coudenberg Museum, Brussels, Belgium
COMERCHINA, Chinese Contemporary, Beijing, China
COMERCHINA, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
2008
Chinese History in Animal Time, Beijing Angle Modern Art, Beijing, China
Chinese History in Animal Time, Museo delle Mura, Rome, Italy
Beijing 2008: Huang Rui, Sala 1, Rome, Italy

2007
Huang Rui: The Stars’ Times 1977-1984, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Chai-Na/China, Les Rencontres d’Arles Photography Festival, Arles, France
Texts are the Legacy of Great Thought!, Chinese Contemporary, New York, USA
Open, Huang Rui’s Studio, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
2006
Chairman Mao 10,000 RMB, Chinese Contemporary, Beijing, China
One Country Two Systems Remains Unchanged for 50 Years, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
2000
Non-Existent Journey IV, Osaka Contemporary Art Center, Osaka, Japan
Non-Existent Journey III, KCAL Kansai Contemporary Art Laboratory, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Kaze Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1999
Beijing 0:00, Performance, Wenzi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1998
Huang Rui Exhibition, JF Mayer Galerie, Marseille, France
Huang Rui Exhibition, Kaze Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1997
Huang Rui Exhibition, Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
I-Ching + Planned Road, Performance, Nishetenma District, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Bricollage Gallery, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Kaze Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1996
Huang Rui Exhibition, Kaibundo Gallery, Kobe, Japan
1995
Wood + Water + Paper, Ruine der Kunst, Berlin, Germany
Huang Rui Exhibition, Galerie Bellefroid, Paris, France
Water +, Abenosuji Gallery, Osaka, Japan
Erguotou Spirit + Ruins, Performance, Guanyuan Demolition Area, Beijing, China
Huang Rui Exhibition, Kaze Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1994
Water + Fish, Huang Rui’s Studio, Beijing, China
Water + Bamboo, Huang Rui’s Studio, Beijing, China
Huang Rui Exhibition, Gallery Ueda, Tokyo, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Kaibundo Gallery, Kobe, Japan
1993
One Hundredth Anniversary of Chairman Mao, Weiwei’s Studio, Beijing, China
1992
Water +, Huang Rui’s Studio, Beijing, China
Huang Rui Exhibition, Modern Chinese Art Center, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Kaze Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1991
Huang Rui Exhibition, Kaibundo Gallery, Kobe, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Gallery Ueda, Tokyo, Japan
1990
Huang Rui Exhibition, Osaka Contemporary Art Center, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Kaze Gallery, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Modern Chinese Art Center, Osaka, Japan
1989
Huang Rui Exhibition, Tor Road Gallery, Kobe, Japan 
1988
Huang Rui Exhibition, Modern Chinese Art Center, Osaka, Japan
1987
Huang Rui Exhibition, Kaze Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1986
Huang Rui Exhibition, Gallery Ueda Warehouse, Tokyo, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Modern Chinese Art Center, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Tor Road Gallery, Kobe, Japan
1985
Huang Rui Exhibition, Kaze Gallery, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Tor Road Gallery, Kobe, Japan
1984
Huang Rui Exhibition, Central Gallery, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Gallery Ueda, Tokyo, Japan

GROUP EXHIBITION:
2017
Frieze Masters，London, UK
KIAF 2017Art seoul，Seoul，Korea
A Dialogue in Contemporary Chinese Art，Klein Sun Gallery，New York
2016
Beyond Action, Kylin Contemporary Center of Art, Beijing, China
9817711: Regional history and Zeitgeist of Northeast Asia, Xi An China
Beijing 798 Genesis (2002-2006), Song Zhuang Art Center, Beijing, China
I-CHING, Performance Art, 11th Edition of Live Action, Gothenburg/Boras, Sweden
Punch Punch Punch: Enduring Magnetism, 1×3 Gallery, Beijing, China
2015
Black and White Cats: Huang Rui and Wang Keping Duo Exhibition, 10 Chancery
Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
The Civil Power, Special Invited Unit, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum Opening
Exhibition, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China
CHINA 8， Kunsthalle Düsseldorf，Kunstmuseum Bonn，Germany；
Agitprop! , Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, America
“Under the Surface” Chinese Contemporary Art Re-enlightenment: From 1979 to 1984, Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an, China
Focus Beijing, Museum Van Boijmans Beuningen, Rotterdam, Holland
Commemoration 85，Xinhua Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2014
Meaning Matter, Magda Danysz Gallery, Shanghai, China
The UN-OFFICIALS Art before 85, Boers-Li Gallery, Beijing, China
Right is Wrong / Four Decades of Chinese Art from M+ Sigg Collection, Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden
2013
The Change of Essence- The Shenzhen Public Sculpture Exhibition 2013, Shenzhen, China
Digital Live, Xiaozhou Village, Guangzhou, China
Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Light before Dawn, Asia Society Hong Kong Center, Hong Kong
2012
RAZE, Pékin Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Daydreaming with…, ArtisTree, Hong Kong
Chai-na/China Signs: Works by Huang Rui and Ko Siu Lan, Slought Foundation and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
2011
Guangzhou LIVE Performance Art Festival, Xiaozhou Village, Guangzhou, China
Blooming in the Shadows: Unofficial Chinese Art, 1974-1985, China Institute, New York, USA
Red, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
LOVE and HOPE, Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
Black White, Zero Field Art Center, Beijing, China
Documentation of Chinese Performance Art Exhibition, Songzhuang Art Museum, Beijing, China
2010
Emptiness, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
Huang Rui and Dai Guangyu: Recent Works, Galerie Adler, Paris, France
Reshaping History: Chinese Art from 2001 to 2009, National Convention Center, Beijing, China
Let’s Do I-Ching, Czech Republic Pavilion Day, Shanghai World Expo, Shanghai, China
Erotic, Hadrien de Montferrand Gallery, Beijing, China
Warm Winter Arts Project, Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Beijing, China
Kollowitz and Chinese Artists, Artmia Art Center, Beijing, China
Warm Winter Arts Project, Zhengyang, 008, and Dongying Art Districts, Beijing, China
2009
Warm Winter Arts Project, Zhengyang Art District, Beijing, China
Asian Art in Characters, 604 Gallery, Busan, South Korea
OPEN, Performance Art Festival, Open Art Gallery, Beijing, China
Berlin Wall Memorial Exhibition, Twentieth Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall Ceremony, Berlin, Germany
Berlin Wall Memorial Exhibition, Garden, German Embassy, Beijing, China
Images of China: The City Flag, Qujiang District Art Center and Dayan Pagoda Square, Xi’an,  China
The 5th International Biennale Ceramic Art Exhibition: Performance Art, Expo Park, Icheon, Korea
2008
Christian Dior & Chinese Artists, UCCA, Beijing, China
SH Contemporary Outdoor Exhibition: Sichuan Forever, Shanghai Exhibition Center, Shanghai, China
China Avant-Garde, Groninger Museum, Groningen, The Netherlands
Earthquake, Art Channel, Beijing, China
Interval of Silence, Redstar Gallery, Beijing, China
Case Studies of Artists in Art History, SZ Art Center, Beijing, China
Memory of China, Galerie Zdenek Sklenar, Prague, Czech Republic
2007
CHINA NOW: Reincarnation of Chinese Contemporary Art, Cobra Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
China Action, Louisiana Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark
Made in China: Contemporary Art Exhibition, Louisiana Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark
Chinese Performance Art Photography, Inter Art Center / Gallery, Beijing, China
2006
Create History: Commemoration Exhibition of Chinese Modern Art in the 1980s, OCAT
Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen, China
Dadao International Performance Festival, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
Wilderness Environmental Art Plan, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
CHINA NOW: Reincarnation of Chinese Contemporary Art, Sammlung Essl Museum, Vienna, Austria
Soldiers at the Gate, DIAF2006, 706 Space, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
Transborder Language, DIAF2006, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
2005 
From Yuanmingyuan to the 798: Performance Art, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
Cubism in Asia, National Museum of Modern Art of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
Transparent Box, Jianwai Soho, Beijing, China
Convergence Art Exhibition, UCCA, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
Forge the Fable, Zero Field Art Center, Beijing, China
Transborder Language, DIAF2005 Third Edition, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
2004
Transborder Language, DIAF2004, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
Multiple Definitions: Imaginary Community, Crystal City, Tianjin, China
2003
Transborder Language, DIAF First Edition, Beijing Tokyo Art Projects, Beijing, China
Reconstruct 798: Dashanzi Art District Event, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
Blue Sky Exposure: Anti-SARS Exhibition, 798 Art District and Yizhuang, Beijing, China
Left Hand, Right Hand, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
2002
Beijing floating World, Beijing Tokyo Art Projects, Beijing, China
CIPAF 02, Banpo Museum, Xi’an, China
The First Guangzhou Triennial, Guangzhou Museum, Guangzhou, China
First Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China
Theater of Our Lives, Hyogo Prefecture Museum of Art, Kobe, Japan
2001
Promenade in Asia, Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Dream 2001: Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition, Red Mansion Foundation, London, UK
2000
The Stars: Twenty Years, Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Documentation of Chinese Avant-Garde Art in the 1990s, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Choi Suk Ho and Huang Rui, Gallery Gu, Seo-Cho Visual Art Institute, Seoul, South Korea
Battle to a 2001: Gozo Yoshimasu and Huang Rui, Gallery Shimada, Kobe, Japan
1999
Memories of One Hundred Years, Huang Rui’s Studio, Osaka, Japan
Nippon Performance Art Festival, Osaka, Japan
True, Hirano, Osaka, Japan
New I-Ching: 64 Divinations of June 4, Central Park, Hong Kong
1998
NIPAF 8: Nippon Performance Art Festival, Nagano, Nagoya, Tokyo, Japan
Julien Blaine Studio Performance Day, Galerie Municipale de Sextius, Aix en Provence, France
NIPAF a Paris, Japan Cultural Center, Paris, France
Art Performance, Art Action, Fringe Club, Hong Kong
Guan Yin, Dainembutsu-ji, Osaka, Japan
Floating City, Rokk Island, Kobe, Japan
Today: Twenty Years: Japan-China International Art Festival, Hamarikyu Asahi Multipurpose Hall, Tokyo, Japan
1997
Chinese Abstraction and Beyond, Hong Kong Arts Center, Hong Kong
Modern de Hirano, Kumata Shino Shrine, Osaka, Japan
Imaginary Trip: Eiji Okubo and Huang Rui Exhibition, Huang Rui’s Studio, Osaka, Japan
The Fourth Rokk Island Open Air Art Festival, Marine Park, Kobe, Japan
1996
Chinese Modern Arts, Gallery Asur, Oslo, Norway
From East of Eurasia, Oxy Gallery, Osaka, Japan
The Origins and Myths of New Fine Art from Japan, China, and Korea, The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan
1995
New Paintings from Chinese Artists, Alisan Fine Arts Gallery, Hong Kong
1994
The Stars: Chinese Modern Art and Culture, Kunsterhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt, Germany
Asian Art Now, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan
1993
The Stars: Fifteen Years, Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1992
Asian Wave, Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Art Now II: Twelve Artists and the New Horizon in the 1990s, Hyogo Prefecture Museum of Modern Art, Kobe, Japan
1990
Ma Desheng, Huang Rui, and Wang Keping Exhibition, Han Art Gallery, Taiwan
Huang Rui and Wang Keping Exhibition, Monte Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
The Stars: Ten Years, Salpetriere Church, Paris, France
1989
The Stars: Ten Years, Han Art Gallery, Hong Kong and Han Art Gallery, Taiwan
1987
The Stars Exhibition with Six Artists, Art Wave Gallery, New York, USA

The Stars Documentation Exhibition, Harvard University Cultural Center, Boston, USA
1985
Ma Desheng and Huang Rui Exhibition, Osaka Contemporary Art Center, Osaka, Japan
1983
Ma Desheng, Huang Rui and Wang Keping Exhibition, Beijing Zixin Road Elementary School, Beijing, China
1981
China Contemporary Art Exhibition, New York, Boston, USA
1980
The Second Stars Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
1979
The First Stars Exhibition, Huafang Zhai, Beijing, China

PUBLICATIONS:

2016
SPACE | Huang Rui : Japan Period 1984-2000, Asia One Books, Hong Kong
2015
HUANGRUI LANGUAGE FORM 1990-2015, Thinking Hands, Beijing, China
2014
Erotic× Huang Rui: Works on Paper 1981-2014, Asia One Books, Hong Kong
Huang Rui: Space Structure 1983-2014, Asia One Books, Hong Kong

2013
A Constellation of Stars- Huang Rui and Ma Desheng:Art Editiors 1978- 1983
Thinking Hands+ Hadrien de Montferrand, Beijing, China
2012
Huang Rui: The Stars Period 1977- 1984, Asia One Books, Hong Kong
2009
1989: 365 Art Days in China and Germany, edition global, Munich, Germany
COMERCHINA, Chinese Contempoary+ Thinking Hands, Beijing, China
2008
Beijing 798: Reflections on “Factory” of Art, Sichuan Publishing Group + Sichuan Fine
Arts Publishing House (Updated Edition), Beijing, China

2006
Selected Works of Mao Tsetung(Volume VI), Timezone 8+ Thinking Hands, Beijing, China
2004
Beijing 798, Timezone 8+ Thinking Hands, Beijing, China